Marine craft often travel at high speeds across water. The acceleration of the craft causes the occupants inside the craft to be affected by inertial forces, and for purposes of safety and comfort the occupants must restrain themselves against such forces. Sudden movements, particularly movement in a vertical plane due to wave bouncing, are most troubling because they give a marine craft occupant little time to prepare for restraint. This problem tends to be magnified in smaller craft which are more susceptible to small waves and disturbances on the surface of the water because of their shallow displacement. Seated occupants are bounced about in the seats and require equipment to restrain their movement. Unfortunately, most marine craft have few, if any, effective restraining devices.
Much of the prior art in seat restraining devices has been oriented toward land vehicles. This includes full restraints such as shoulder and waist restraints. In those vehicles, shoulder and waist restraints serve their purpose well in restraining a person during sudden acceleration or deceleration, particularly collision. In marine craft, however, full restraints are not practical. Collisions or other accidents often result in sunken or overturned vehicles. Shoulder and waist restraints can trap occupants below water in overturned or sunken vessels. Thus, full restraints are adverse to safety on marine craft and are generally not practical.
Other restraints such as hand-holds and loop-holds are useful and provide the marine craft occupant restraint when desired and mobility when the restraint is not necessary. Unfortunately, these restraints often obstruct or interfere with the utility of a space. Much of the equipment used on marine craft is bulky or awkward, such as fishing gear, scuba equipment, and water skis, and any obtrusive parts in the craft can interfere with the use and enjoyment of such equipment. There is very limited space in small marine craft, and it must be used efficiently. Thus, marine craft have the need for an unobtrusive, yet easily reached and effective restraint device that can be placed on or near a seat in a marine vessel.